Grade 9

Ninth grade humanities offers students an interdisciplinary approach to English and history, encouraging them to explore ideas and make meaningful connections across subjects. The course emphasizes critical thinking, creativity, and effective communication, inviting students to articulate insights both in writing and verbally.

Guided by the essential question of what it means to be American, students examine primary and secondary sources, literature, and film to explore key historical and cultural themes. Major units include the Reconstruction Era, the Native American experience from pre-Civil War through World War I, Japanese-American incarceration during World War II, the Jim Crow Era, the Civil Rights Movement, and contemporary issues such as mass incarceration. The curriculum culminates in a spring trip to Georgia and Alabama, where students visit significant historical sites and connect their learning to real-world contexts.

Ninth grade world language courses, most commonly Spanish or Latin, continue to develop students’ skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing through communicative activities, drills, and original compositions. Students build on prior knowledge while incorporating new vocabulary and grammar concepts, with an emphasis on expanding the use of past and future tenses.

Course topics and skills vary depending on the specific language offered and the focus of that year’s curriculum. In all courses, students are encouraged to apply their language skills in authentic contexts, strengthening both fluency and confidence in the target language.

The ninth grade math program builds on students’ prior algebra knowledge, emphasizing the connections between geometric concepts and the algebraic equations and formulas they have learned in earlier grades. The curriculum emphasizes formal proofs, logical reasoning, and the connections between spatial concepts and algebraic equations. Students explore the properties of lines, angles, triangles, quadrilaterals, and circles while developing skills to read and interpret 3-D diagrams throughout the year.

Problem solving is woven into the curriculum to encourage students to connect the abstract nature of the formulas and terms to real life situations that require one’s mind to visualize connections between shapes and numbers. 

Technology is used regularly to enhance learning, including the TI-84 CE graphing calculator and the TI-Nspire app for the iPad. An introduction to programming on the TI-84 CE reinforces the construction of two-column proofs and deepens students’ understanding of geometric relationships.

In the Upper School visual arts program, emphasis is placed on balancing fundamental skill development, individual creativity and hands-on experience with a wide variety of materials and techniques aimed at opening as many creative and inspirational doors as possible. Given more unique circumstances of Pike 9, this can take a variety of forms based on the group of students and their interests. This work may include drawing, printmaking, sculpture, film-based photography, alternative process photography, graphic design, furniture design or architecture. Within the study of each of these art forms, the ongoing focus will revolve around technical skill development, self-expression, creative exploration and problem solving as well as critical thinking and discourse. All students’ finished work will be showcased in the annual art show.

*Work with visiting artists may at times, replace these projects to take advantage of special creative opportunities. 

The ninth grade theatre students perform in a play that has already been written. This is a different challenge from the eighth grade theatre project because the ninth graders must interpret the playwright’s intentions by looking for clues in the script. All ninth graders perform and assist as directors during this project. They also work together to build the set and make props for the performance. The ninth grade theatre class culminates in an evening performance for the entire community.

In ninth grade, the music curriculum focuses on inclusivity and music. We ask the question “Who is allowed/able to participate in music, and does it need to be that way?” To answer this question, we explore the different barriers to participation in music, such as disability and socio-economic barriers. We then attempt to create adaptive instruments that allow students with various disabilities across a wide socio-economic range to be able to engage as confident music makers. As part of this process we learn about design thinking and harnessing the power of technology such as Arduinos, Makey Makeys, and more to create a more inclusive society. 

Ninth grade biology follows a high school–level curriculum, guiding students through an in-depth exploration of the natural world. The year begins with ecology and geologic evolution in the fall, moves to diversity of organisms and cell biology in the winter, and concludes with genetics, organic evolution, and a capstone project in the spring.

Students demonstrate their learning through a variety of assessments, including tests, research papers, debates, and hands-on projects that encourage them to apply the scientific method and extend beyond factual knowledge. Outdoor fieldwork is a central component of the course: each student monitors a quadrant of Pike’s woods across the seasons to study ecosystems, seasonal patterns, and environmental impacts.

The curriculum also emphasizes community and conservation. Students serve as stewards of Pike’s Nature Trail, partner with Andover’s Conservation Commission to maintain wetlands, and collaborate with Zoo New England to rehabilitate and release endangered turtles. A highlight of the year is the winter trip to the Marine Lab in Key Largo, Florida, where students engage in immersive, real-world science.

The goal of the curriculum is to develop versatile movers with the confidence to learn new skills and the desire to engage in physical pursuits on a lifelong basis. Areas of focus include lifetime fitness and activities, traditional sports and an outdoor challenge course unit. Activities include flag rugby, ultimate Frisbee, basketball, volleyball, floor hockey, badminton, yoga, and leadership class. As a culminating activity in the challenge course, students gain the technical skills and confidence to run the high ropes course and challenge themselves to take appropriate risks.